At current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, earth could pass the 1.5 C marker as early as 2030, and no later than mid-century, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change reports with “high confidence”.

Two decades. That’s all the time world leaders have to reverse emissions of greenhouse gases to avoid inundating coastal cities, killing off coral reefs and their attendant marine wildlife, and potential food shortages, according to a new United Nations report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Greenpeace East Asia climate and energy campaigner Walton Li said Hong Kong possessed one of the largest carbon footprints in the world and had a responsibility to “radically” revise its emissions strategy.

By 2050, emissions of other heat-trapping greenhouse gasses, including methane and black carbon, should be reduced by 35%, relative to the 2010 rate.

The IPCC special report Global Warming of 1.5 °C starts with good news: a viable pathway to keep average global temperature rise below 1.5 °C is still open to us.

It warns a further increase to two degrees Celsius would greatly increase the number of natural disasters.

Henn was actually responding to Penn State University climate scientist Michael Mann who was pushing back against those criticizing the IPCC report as too “alarmist” in its declarations and warnings.

Personal changes might include everything from eating less meat to using energy-efficient appliances and reducing air travel, said Patricia Pinho, a Brazilian climate scientist and report author.

The dramatic report warned that the planet is now heading to warm by 3C – and to slash that to less than 1.5C as laid out in the Paris agreement will require “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”.

Another recent report from the consulting firm PwC makes it clear that even limiting warming to 2 degrees C will be a stretch: “There seems to be nearly zero chance of limiting warming to well below two degrees (the main goal of the Paris Agreement), though widespread use of carbon capture and storage technologies, including Natural Climate Solutions, may make this possible”, it says. “There’s certainly things that we’ll need to invest in more to develop the next generation of solutions”. “The small islands will be the first, but nobody can escape; it is quite clear”.

Icebergs float in a fjord after calving off from glaciers on the Greenland ice sheet in southeastern Greenland, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. “In the near term, taking fast, ambitious action to reduce SLCPs is particularly vital to keeping temperature rise below 1.5 C”, the authors said.

Renewable energy sources for electricity would have to increase from the current 20 per cent to 67 per cent. “Resolving such speed and scale issues would require people’s support, public-sector interventions and private-sector cooperation”.

Tallas told VOA that people can help save the planet by changing the way they live. And just Monday, the Trump administration announced that the Environmental Protection Agency would be changing a rule to allow year-round sales of E15, or fuel that is 15 percent ethanol by volume. We have told you the scientific facts, the evidence. While its approaches have been identified before-including last year’s Well Under 2C study that we co-chaired with over 30 experts-the IPCC report should be a rallying point for nations to implement the policies needed to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. He says this is a major task.